Picasso Bronze Sculpture Head of Jester

$12500.00

/44.35298 BTC

This rare bronze sculpture bust with black patina after Pablo PICASSO is said to be only one of 10 from the last cast of the retired mold after Head of Jester", elsewhere known as "Le fou". 'PICASSO' (on the back) from the cast. The original is Listed in Picasso, The Sculptures Catalogue Raisonne by Werner Spies R4.

Signed "Picasso" from the mold Published by FEM. The bronze offered weighs approximately 40 lbs.

The dimension of this incredible Picasso after sculpture is (approximately) 18" high by 10" deep by 16" wide.

The bust I have offered is not from the original cast, this is from the last cast of the last mold from published by FEM which sold for $30,000 in the 1980s. The original sold in the millions of dollars at auction in 2007.

Picasso's fascination with the life of the circus performer; a world characterized by artifice, decoration, masks and costumes. The present work symbolizes a shift for Picasso from the Blue to the Rose period and marks a new chapter of iconography for the artist. Werner Spies discusses the creation of the original work, inspired by Picasso's close friend, the writer Max Jacob, as "nothing less than the description of a costuming, the transformation of a portrait of Max Jacob into an allegory" Roland Penrose also describes the birth of the original sculpture as "It was begun late one evening after returning home from the circus with Max Jacob. The clay rapidly took on the appearance of his friend, but the next day he continued to work on it and only the lower part of the face retained the likeness.

The jester's cap was added as the head changed its personality" The theme of the Jester's cap and the "crown" played an important role in the work of Picasso during this period. Spies examines Picasso's fascination with this device as he make clear that "Picasso uses the cap not merely as an attribute for particular figures, but as an autonomous, visually enlivening accessory. He is clearly attracted by the geometric structure of the cap, a large triangle surrounded by lower, smaller ones; in many pictures it appears as an echo of the jester's diamond-patterned costume"